[ARCHIVED] Delete files when space runs out

[bean-bagg-1126]

How can I delete old submissions files? I have looked at

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-delete-a-file-or-folder-as-a-student/ta-p/...

I have attached what I see on my end.

I need to delete files so I can upload more for my classwork. 

[Chris_Hofer]

Hello there, @bean-bagg-1126 ...

You might be interested in checking out the response I provided in August 2020 to another Community member who had questions about personal file storage and saved assignments.  Solved: Assignment Storage Space - Canvas Community  If you take a look at the second link in my reply to Stephen, you'll see that the information in the blue box at the top of that Guide states, "Any attachments added as part of a graded assignment submission are also copied to your user files but are not counted against your user quota. However, once the file has been uploaded as a submission, you cannot delete the file. Files are stored in the Submissions folder."  So, you should not hav to worry about the files that are in your "Submissions" folder of your personal files area...as those would not count towards your quota.

I hope this will help a bit.  Sing out if you have any other questions about this...thanks!  Take care, stay safe, and be well.

[Sbauer84]

Are there established modules available? Or do I need to create my own? Sorry I have zero experience with this software 😞

[Chris_Hofer]

Hello there, @Sbauer84 ...

You've posted your question in a topic where a student was asking about assignment file submissions.  I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "established modules".  While we can certainly help to answer any questions you have about Canvas, I might suggest that you start a new topic here in the Community so that we can keep the conversation here separate from the questions you may have.  In order to start a new topic, you can click on this link, Question Forum - Canvas Community, and then click on the button, "Ask a question".

Looking forward to see your question posted in the Community.  Thanks...take care, be well.

[James · Accepted solution]

@bean-bagg-1126 

As @Chris_Hofer mentioned, it's not the assignment submissions that is causing the quota problem.

I would look at your conversation attachments folder. Those do count against the quota and every time you take a picture of something and send it to the instructor (or someone else), it counts. When my students have issues, it is almost always the conversation attachments that need removed. Those can easily be removed to clear up space.

Other issues I've had are where students upload images for discussions. Embedding an image in a discussion isn't flagged as being for a submission, so they count against the quota as well. Those are typically very small in comparison to the conversation attachments, though.

I've also seen problems if students did lots of media attachments or messages. I think I read Canvas has changed that recently, but it used to be a way to quickly fill up your quota as those files can be huge.

[SusanNiemeyer]

I need some advice on how to help a student with her file storage issues. Somehow, she ended up with a huge number of random files in a couple of past classes, which she cannot delete. These are not submissions, but rather an odd collection of screenshots, handouts, and the like. 

We tried deleting them, but when she clicks on the three dots next to the file, she only has one option: download. The trashcan icon is missing as well.

How can I help her solve this problem? We really need to clean out her storage space, and these are worthless, junk files.